Recipient Organization
MICROANALYTICS, INC.
2011A LAMAR DRIVE
ROUND ROCK,TX 78664
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Off-odor and off-taste problems are estimated to cost the food and beverage industries in excess of 1.2 billion dollars annually. There is a prevailing need for quick, accurate and cost effective aroma and flavor quality monitoring instrumentation for these industries which can effectively reduce these costs early in the production cycle. In the brewing industry, for example, its use can result in implementing operations that both reduce loss from product rejection and improve final product quality. Currently, there is no instrument-based technology of this type available on the market that has been shown to perform effectively across a wide range of applications. We are confident that the unique integrated approach we currently propose will effectively meet the need for a rapid, accurate and cost effective aroma quality monitoring instrument for the brewing industry. In addition the success of this application should facilitate the development of a variety of analogous
applications within the food, beverage and consumer products industries.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overall objective of this Phase II project is the development, optimization and evaluation of a prototype mass spectrometer based electronic nose instrument for rapid aroma quality monitoring in brewing operations. This current project will expand on the previous Phase I feasibility study which explored the concept of integrating GC-Olfactometry, multidimensional GC, MS batch inletting and multivariant analysis techniques for rapid aroma quality screening. While the Phase I efforts were focused on aromatic basmati rice as the example test case it is expected that an analogous approach can be successfully developed and adapted to the current focus of beer aroma and flavor analysis. Successful completion of the Phase II primary objectives should satisfy the basic requirements prior to initiating the projected Phase III commercialization project. In addition, success in meeting these Phase II objectives for beer production should facilitate the development of a wider
range of analogous applications within the food, beverage and consumer products industries.
Project Methods
As stated previously the overall objective of the Phase II project is the development of an effective aroma quality screening instrument for commercial brewing operations. Therefore, it is clear that the success of this project will be heavily dependent on the active participation and commitment of an established commercial brewery. The problem of obtaining access to an appropriate field test site has been overcome with the formal commitment of the Sierra Nevada Brewery of Chico, California to host Microanalytics at their site and assist with the gathering of required correlating data and sample sets. Working with Sierra Nevada it will be necessary to complete a series of critical tasks in order to successfully meet the Phase II objectives. This task series begins with the development of an in-depth aroma profile of the target beer product utilizing our in-house AromaTrax GC-Olfactometry technology. This preliminary aroma profile study will be performed at the Round
Rock, Texas facility of Microanalytics on target finished product samples as supplied by Sierra Nevada. As was done previously in the basmati rice studies, the resulting aroma profile data will be evaluated in conjunction with sensory panel results in an effort to establish the critical links between aroma volatiles and overall aroma quality. From these critical links and correlated mass spectral data an initial optimized ion field will be selected for multivariant analysis and the process begun to fine tune that initial field in relation to the supporting chromatographic parameters. There are two key areas where our proposed approach to MS-nose technology differs significantly from others which have been published. The first of these is our proposed use of GC-Olfactometry as a preliminary step to define the actual aroma critical compounds and from these define an optimized ion field for multivariant analysis. The second key difference lies in the call for a degree of flexibility in
the level of chromatographic separation preceding the mass spectrometric detection. Whereas most published MS-nose applications propose un-separated batch sample introduction to the MS we propose a system permitting either un-separated batch or high resolution MDGC separation preceding sample introduction to the MS. The choice of no separation or high level separation will be dictated by the challenges of the particular sample. Based on the first round of test results and multivariant correlation studies an optimized QC-Trax field test system and application protocol will be developed and placed on-site at the Sierra Nevada Brewery for extended production testing and protocol optimization. This on-site effort will include continued correlation studies relative to sensory panel and instrumental results. The field test will continue for a minimum of six months subsequent to the transfer of technology and will terminate with a final test evaluation. The field test will be structured to
gauge the level of agreement between sensory panel and instrumental MS-nose aroma classification for a selected sample set.